The new year will bring magic and mystery to resorts in Hawaii and around the world.
Hawaii-based Hotel Magic, LLC will launch “The Magical Mystery Show!” in 2022, bringing world class magicians to resorts in Hawaii and London – and eventually beyond – for weeks of intimate shows with small crowds.
“The Magical Mystery Show!” takes its theme from the Victorian and Edwardian eras, where European and American parlors were built in homes, allowing larger groups to be entertained together, Hotel Magic President and CEO Jonathan Todd said.
“And that Victorian era of magic was its finest day,” he said. “It was amazing to have live entertainment in a small venue like that.”
Magician Nathan Coe Marsh will begin shows at a Maui resort starting Feb. 14 while “The Magical Mystery Show!” is set to kick off on Oahu April 30 with Shoot Ogawa. Hawaii’s Curtis Kam will serve as a substitute, said Todd.
The hosting resorts will be announced at a later date, but Todd said each venue will host two shows – each with 50 guests – six nights a week. Hotel guests will be given discounts and priority for tickets, followed by local residents.
Guests use a password to enter – and explore – a “Museum of Curiosities and Oddities.” A master of ceremonies will perform some magic and guests will have to complete a puzzle that opens a hidden passageway into the theater. Todd said antiques and magical memorabilia have been purchased for each hotel property.
Todd anticipates expanding to five Hawaii resorts in 2022 and a sixth in London; he is also in talks with another location in Vienna, Austria. Hotel Magic aims to have the program in 25 hotels around the world in the “next few years.”
“We start in Hawaii,” he said. “It is the ultimate destination with the best resorts in the world, and they have the space and inclination. This [show] is a draw.”
The concept, said Todd, was born from the desire to find a “win-win” situation during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
“If there was no Covid, hotels would be at maximum occupancy,” he said. “They wouldn’t have the rooms [to do this]. We need to have large enough rooms to hold 50 people spaced properly.”
Rooms also are needed for the magicians, their assistants and an on-site producer.
“I need a lot of space from a hotel to make this happen,” Todd said. “There’s no way pre-Covid anybody would have rented that space. … I know because I tried it pre-Covid. Then Covid hits and they have space.”
Magicians contracted for the show must meet strict criteria, which includes being regular performers at the Academy of Magical Arts’ Magic Castle, years of experience working on cruise ships or a residency “of high international value,” as well as being “television worthy,” meaning they have performed on shows like “Penn & Teller: Fool Us,” Todd said.
Marsh, who is based in Orlando, Florida, told Pacific Business News he is scheduled to perform on Maui through April 18.
“I’m incredibly excited to be a part of this program,” he said. “What they’re doing is really bold, imaginative and also extremely professional, and well thought out and well managed.”
Marsh said the endeavor is “very out of the box” and the way magic is integrating with luxury resorts is something that’s brand new.
There are “a lot of free-standing places where people can experience upscale magic, but … not where it’s connected with a resort in this [way],” he said.
As a performer, Marsh said he’s excited to be able to focus on the show itself without having to worry about the business aspect, and to “perform magic in an environment that’s perfectly designed for experiencing magic in the best way possible.”
According to Todd, Hotel Magic leadership, friends and family have financed the first phase of operations – a seven-figure number he declined to disclose – which covers the cost of operations at five hotels for a full year. A second round of fundraising is underway.
“The whole point of these shows is you have a time right now, when people are unhappy, stressed, uptight. The world is not the same as it used to be. …,” Todd said. “There’s got to be some magic left in the world. There’s go to be the wonder of childhood and awe of amazement because those are uplifting and very necessary things in down times.”
According to a news release, tickets for most venues will go on sale Jan. 21. A portion of gross ticket sales will be donated to The Maui Shrine Club, Aloha Shriners, and the Academy of Magical Arts in Hollywood, California.
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